Tomato Soup

Tomatoes, mozarella, olive oil, prosciutto… Just a few of the reasons why Italy is pretty amazing;) And while during summer, there hardly passes a day without these ingredients, in the colder months, great juicy tomatoes are pretty hard to come by. And this delicious tomato soup is just one of the ways to get a little fix. And the best thing is, you can top with with all the best Italian things.

Ingredients:

800 g of canned tomatoes or 1 kg of peeled, chopped heirloom tomatoes

2 carrots, peeled and grated

2 medium onions, chopped

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

10 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes

a squeeze of triple tomato concentrate

a splash of balsamic vinegar

1 tsp of sugar

2 tbsp olive oil

salt, pepper

Fresh or frozen basil leaves*

Extra:

buffalo mozzarella, pesto to serve

METHOD:

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, sun-dried tomatoes and garlic and gently fry until golden, mixing occasionally. Add the shredded carrots and fry for 5 more minutes.

Add the chopped fresh or canned tomatoes, mix well, add a glass of water and cook for about 15 minutes.

Using an electric mixer puree the soup mixture completely.

Now spice it up with salt, pepper, a bit of sugar, balsamic vinegar, triple tomato concentrate and basil leaves.

To serve simply put the soup in a bowl and top with a bit of mozzarella, pesto (Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto will work amazingly as well) and enjoy with a toasted piece of your favorite bread.

*Frozen basil leaves

If you have some basil in your garden and want to save some for the colder days when it’s impossible to get fresh ones, simply pick the leaves, put them in a large jar and freeze them. They will stay as delicious and will still keep their gorgeous, vividly green color when added into a warm dish.